On Sunday, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a statement, saying that Meng Hongwei has resigned as the organization's president, with Senior Vice President Kim Jong-yang becoming the acting president. The statement came as the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China announced that Meng was under investigation over bribery charges.
Andrei Karneyev, deputy director of the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University, recalled that Meng, a Chinese citizen, was detained on the territory of China, where he flew in from France.
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"So China acted fully within the framework of its sovereignty. Beijing did not need to obtain Interpol's consent to launch a probe against Meng and charges against him are not related to his work as Interpol president. A report by the Chinese National Supervisory Commission (NSC) says that Meng is suspected of breaking the law. His position at Interpol is not even mentioned," Karneyev noted.
He explained that Beijing has yet to clarify the details of the investigation and that in China such details are usually made public when the case is handed over to the investigative authorities or the court.
"Currently dealing with Meng is the NSC, a new state body which was established earlier this year and aimed to strengthen the fight against corruption at all levels of government," Karneyev marked.
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He suggested that Meng's detention may be in line with Beijing's current tendency to boost the fight against Chinese officials' corrupt practices.
Karneyev recalled that almost immediately after Xi Jinping became Chinese President, he showed a strong drive to start exposing the country's high-ranking officials, known as the "tigers" in China, who are involved in corruption.
"Xi has repeatedly emphasized that regardless of their position held, everyone is equal before the law," Karneyev wrote, referring to the investigations which affected such sensitive areas in China as law enforcement, the army and the state security system.
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"The news about the beginning of investigation against Meng indicates that this forecast has not come true," Karneyev pointed out.
He concluded by stressing that as for the current accusations against China, one cannot but agree with the viewpoint expressed by Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the influential Chinese newspaper Global Times.
"Speed of information disclosure on sensitive news in China cannot keep up with public's expectations. This is an old problem of China. But complaints and accusations other than that are mostly exaggerated and groundless," Hu underlined.
The views and opinions expressed by Andrey Karneyev are those of the analyst and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
